Waitresses in Diners
by YourLogicIsFlawless
Summary: Being left alone was never on her agenda, she just kind of got tunneled into, and honestly she gave up on ever being able to dig herself out. Life has a way of surprising you though, even if it as at 1 am in a shit hole diner. Dreyna human AU.


**God this ship will be the death of me.**

~o~

Reyna had always prided herself on her independence. She never counted on anyone being there for her, because honestly, when you broke it down, who really was? However, she guessed she had doomed herself from the start. Putting on a front of false confidence and independence basically translated into "hey, I'm a bitch!" Those two _fantastic_ qualities tended to make your love life pretty dull. Just a heads up.

It wasn't like she planned on being alone at 26 in the middle of New York with a handful of people she could call friends. It just kind of happened. SHe couldn't place blame on anyone for her being lonely but, there was always the classic excuse: school. She was a very diligent student and actually made 3rd in her class, all the good that did her. Here she was scouring for a job while working at a Seven Eleven while trying to pay for her water and electric bill. Forget about groceries. Who was she kidding, what the hell was she supposed to do with a BA in Democratic Leadership anyways? There goes $55,000 down the drain. Nice one Reyna.

It was actually that beautiful shit-face of a job that put her in her current predicament in the first place. Sitting in a cheap little diner at 1 in the morning on the corner between an indie sex shop and some weird thrift store with a weird cashier that always seemed to work every goddamn shift.

Reyna's phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out she read the caller ID. Hylla. _Well fuck,_ she thought. Reyna held the phone in her palm watching the phone buzz around as her sister tried to get a hold of her. four rings, five, six. Missed call. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid talking to her sister, she loved her very much. It was just that she was tired. Tired of the same fucking questions. _How are you, Rey? Have you gotten a better job yet? How's everything with Jason and Percy? Are you seeing anyone yet?_ Every goddamn time. Maybe that's why she left California. To get away. From Hylla? Maybe, she wasn't sure. Maybe she hoped that after a couple years -It's been 7 - in New York she'd stumble upon someone who might be worth her time. To say it wasn't working was a major understatement.

So here she was sitting in a grease stained booth in the back of a shit hole dinner and drinking watered-down, black coffee while watching the night owls of New York try and drink there hangovers away on the same dishwater tasting shit. It was all repetitive. Guy in the trench coat with the bloodshot eyes would check his watch, take a sip, look at the door, run his hands through his hair. Check his watch again and start the process over. Then there was Sequin Shirt. A red head with brown roots who looked like a junkie, wearing a blue sequin crop top. She held her coffee between two hands and stared at the peeling plaster wall. Sometimes her eyes would move up towards the harsh flickering yellow lights. Her cup was still full.

Where did she fit in? The lonely Puerto Rican who couldn't seem to get her shit together. She watched as the waitress that looked like a women on the Real Housewife show, or whatever it is, who had served her clocked out for the night. That left the one waitress at the counter on her phone.

She had only been there fifteen minutes but the waitress working the counter seemed to not mind making her wait at all. Even if there were only a hand full of people here. _I guess she got caught working the graveyard shift too,_ Reyna thought. Her phone buzzed again. Surprisingly enough the waitress seemed to deem her important enough to serve now. Tossing a menu on the table the young women said in a bored tone.

"What do you want?"

She resisted an eye roll as she glanced at the young adult for the first time. _Well shit,_ she thought. This chick was drop dead gorgeous. She was Asian, from which region of the continent Reyna couldn't tell. Her hair was in a messy side bun with teased pieces of hair hanging down. _Too much hairspray will do that too you sweetie_ , She thought. Her nails were a glossy light blue and she wore dark washed, old looking, boot coot jeans with a black and white stripped tank top underneath her purple apron which read, " _Deena's Diner and Coffee House"_ in curly black letters. She had on black flats and had the best cat eye Reyna had ever seen.

She popped her gum loudly.

"Well? You gonna order or what?" Reyna shook herself out of her daze and fought the embarrassment from the fact that she had been staring.

"Uh, I'll just have another coffee please." Where the hell had that nervous tone come from.

"You should eat something, you look like you haven't had a proper meal in weeks." The girl said with a surprising amount of concern in her voice.

"Is the food here considered a _proper_ meal?" The girl, Reyna peered at her name tag, Drew, chuckled lightly.

"No I suppose not, but it'll fill you up alright." Silence quickly moved in as Reyna tried to determine her next response. Why was this girl being so kind? Why was she concerned about her, a random customer who had nowhere to go at 1 am for fear of her landlord tracking her down and demanding last months rent which she simply did not have.

"That's okay I'm not hungry." Cue her stomach growling. Drew smirked at her.

"Mhm okay, well I hope you like eggs and toast 'cause that's about all I can make." With that she left through the swinging door leading to the kitchen. To say Reyna was confused was putting it lightly. Who the hell was this girl? And why the hell did she feel like a twelve year old who had developed her first crush?

It was another 20 minutes before Drew returned with a plate of eggs and burnt toast with what might be jelly smeared on the tops. And another cup of coffee.

"Enjoy, hon." She said as she all but threw the plate in front of her. She winked at her as she sauntered off. Why the hell did she wink? She could feel herself about to smile, and no this was not happening again. Not after Jason and Percy. Never again, she didn't think she could handle another one.

She ate the papery eggs in silence. Chewing slowly as she forced the food down. Drew was right, it had been a while since she had had a decent meal, if you could call dry eggs and burnt toast decent that is. She had just been living off the Deluxe Family Size box of knock off Cheerios and granola bars. The food sucked, but it was something, and for that she was grateful.

She didn't know how she would pay for it. Coffee was only a dollar fifty. An actual meal? she didn't know if her budget could afford it. She should just stop eating it, but she was really hungry. Curse that goddamn waitress and her exceedingly charming smile.

Her phone buzzed again, loudly, as it was resting on the table. She paused in eating and stared down at the old piece of shit phone.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Drew said, while flipping through a copy of _Vogue._ The dimples on her back where showing just under her shirt. _Snap out of it Reyna._

"No. It's no one important." She said through gritted teeth. Who was this girl to come and judge her like that? Why was she so fucking nosy?

"Sure, sure. If it's the same person whose been calling you for the past hour I'd say they're pretty important." She flipped the page of her magazine. Reyna didn't say anything. She never was good in being called out when she was wrong.

"A boyfriend, maybe?" Reyna gave a sad laugh. Really she just blew out air, laughing wasn't something that came easy these days.

"No, no one like that." Drew nodded her head. Almost as if she was storing the information away for a different time.

Reyna kept quiet after that. Studying the girl who flipped throw her fashion magazine with not a care in the world. She didn't care that Trench Coat Guy was pouring alcohol from a flask into his coffee or that Sequin Shirt looked like she had just overdosed on cocaine. She looked as if she hadn't a care in the world. Popping her gum and turning pages. It was therapeutic in a way. Slow and relaxing, repetitive like the other's, but Drew was different. Since when was she so cliche? This wasn't a teen angst movie about lesbian lovers who move to San Francisco and live there lives in a shitty apartment wearing over sized T-shirts and boy shorts and dancing to indie music while making dinner for each other, not caring about money. Money isn't an issue in movies. _Grow up Reyna._

She finished the food. The coffee didn't look even slightly appealing at this point.

"Can I have the check please?" Reyna asked, her eyes downcast. She didn't want to leave, but it was getting late. She couldn't help but feel the burning sadness that she'd probably never see this girl again. And the only thing she'd talked to her about was shit food and phone calls. Nice going Rey. You're a real Lady Killer.

"Sure thing, hon." Would it be wishful thinking to say that she looked a little disappointed too? She wrote the receipt on a white piece of paper, folded it, and put it on a little silver tray. She walked it over and left quickly, moving to the kitchen. _Probably to make more coffee, Trench Coat's really sucking it down._ She looked at the receipt and was surprised when she saw that her bill was only $3.00. _How is that possible?_ she thought. Then Reyna realized, that she hadn't charged her for the food. She couldn't help but feel warmed by the kindness this stranger had shown her. However, it simply wouldn't do, her honor wouldn't allow it. The she saw a note at the bottom.

' _Don't even think about arguing with me about the bill. Everybody has money troubles every once and a while hon, try not to let it get you down._

 _p.s. Sometimes we push people away when they want to care about us. You only get so many chances, hon, don't fuck it up too bad.'_

Her handwriting was anything but pretty, not something she was expecting from such a girl. It kind of looked like chicken scratch. She smiled a bit and decided to let the whole bill thing slide. She threw her three bucks down and walked out of the diner without another word, just as the girl emerged from the kitchen. Reyna looked back through the glass windows and caught Drew's eye, she attempted a smile just as Sequin Shirt vomited on the floor. Drew made a disgusted face.

Reyna laughed. It felt easy and care free. She turned and started walking down the side walk to the subway. as she was waiting for the train she pulled the crumpled receipt out of her pocket for lack of anything better to do. That's when she noticed the writing on the back. A phone number. Reyna couldn't believe it. She got her number. Honestly she wasn't sure why she was so giddy, the waitress was just a stranger who paid for her food. _Kind of like a date_ , her mind added. Why would she think that, that was nothing close to a date. But maybe that was what the girl wanted. She'd call her tomorrow she decided.

The subway train came zooming to a stop in front her as she climbed on the near empty train. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It said, Hylla. " _Sometimes we push people away when they want to care about us."_

After a moments hesitation, she pressed talk.

~o~

 **I really really like angsty Reyna. Like a lot. I honestly thought this would be longer but I guess not. Sorry for that fact that even though I intended this to be more romance geared,I failed massively. Tell me what you think, I'm actually a little proud of this one... Thanks for reading!**


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